


Pet Therapy

by Strixes



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alien Castiel (Supernatural), Alien Sex, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Alternate Universe - Space, Body Modification, Extremely Dubious Consent, Human Dean, M/M, Master/Pet, Non-Consensual Body Modification, Objectification, Owner Castiel, Pet Dean, Rape/Non-con Elements, Sex Toy Dean
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-21
Updated: 2017-09-04
Packaged: 2018-09-25 22:49:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9849992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Strixes/pseuds/Strixes
Summary: Castiel honestly didn't know why he was so against getting a pet in the first place. The human was easy to take care of, companionable, and quick to obey. Dean didn't have the same sleep rhythm or eating patterns as him but there was a certain charm in having his pet curl up beside him and nap or get excited about its meals.He knew his pet was probably no more intelligent than most humans but with nothing else to focus on during a shipment it was hard not to be endlessly amazed at all the commands Dean could remember. He understood now why people bragged about their pets even if he was loathed to admit it.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: in universe one sided bestiality (sorry don't know what else to call it). To Castiel and many other species in this universe humans are just another animal. Castiel views sex with Dean as bestiality while Dean does not. 
> 
> There's also what I'm going to call "pseudo-eggpreg". It's more masturbation with an egg kink. No one actually becomes pregnant though there is some discussion of the possibility in the future. And while Castiel refers to his genitals as a "mating tail" it's probably close enough to a tentacle to squick people who are grossed out by tentacle sex. It's more of a prehensile penis but I thought I'd mention it.

Castiel didn't want a pet but his therapist had suggested it since he refused to hire extra crew. The entire _point_ of his delivery service was that it was discreet. He sold discretion as much as he sold efficiency. Crew would talk, they always did.

His therapist had suggested a few different animals that formed close pack bonds but none of them were suitable for long term space travel, he had only begrudgingly suggested he get a human when Castiel had told him that he was thinking about installing a basic AI to talk to.

His therapist had sternly told him that it wasn't communication he needed. He needed _touch._ Affection. An AI couldn't provide that. Pet therapy would be the best solution.

Castiel said he'd consider it.

And he was considering it a bad idea as he stood in the store and watched the humans tear things apart, fight with each other, and make a general ruckus.

"They settle down when they get older."

Castiel's bladed tail arched in surprise. He turned to find a store employee watching him. The spines along her arms flexed. Castiel curled his mating tail close to his body. She was Thuud, depending where she was from she was either happy to help him or she was about to pick a fight.

Her spines smoothed out. She stepped closer and touched the panel that separated the humans from the rest of the store. "Never had one before?"

"No." Castiel relaxed his stance. "But my therapist suggested I get a companion animal."

She rolled her shoulders and pointed two hands at the display next to the humans. "Maybe a siren is more your speed."

Castiel sighed. From the research he'd done he knew a siren _would_ be more what he'd want. They were from the same planets humans came from so they were hardy. They were a great deal more affectionate than a human but needed a great deal _less_ care than a human. Sirens were used to long periods of time in solitude. He wouldn't have to pay attention to it if he didn't feel like it. And it would be more than capable of being taught to feed itself. It was the perfect pet for him— if he was staying on planet and had unlimited access to water.

He shook his head. "The water requirements are far too high."

"You do a lot of travelling I take it?" The employee asked. "Global or deep?"

"Deep."

The employee clicked in agreement. "Humans _are_ better adjusted to space." She started towards the back. "But I wouldn't recommend a kit. They're a handful at that age." She stopped in front of a row of cages. "Why don't you see if you make friends with any of our shelter pets? They're all trained and housebroken. It takes a bit more for an older human to bond with their owner but it's worth the effort."

Castiel looked over the row of cages in dismay. Did he really want a second-hand pet? It would come with all the problems of its previous owner.

He checked his watch. He could find another store tomorrow. He still had time. He sighed to himself. If he left here today without one he'd never work himself back up into looking at them again and then eventually he'd lose his mind on one of his long deliveries and his therapist would use him as an example to his future patients of the dangers of touch deprivation.

The employee encouraged him to interact with the humans before leaving to help a family that needed something from a high shelf.

Castiel forced himself to relax and stepped up to the first cage.

The human inside squeaked then curled into a ball and shivered. Castiel wasn't an expert in human behaviours but there were very few species that did that when they were happy. He moved on to the next one.

He felt like an idiot clicking his claws against the panels and fluttering his tails in an effort to get the attention of each human. Especially since most of them ignored him.

He narrowed it down to two. One with striking red hair and seemed eager to get closer to him and another with tiny spots speckling its skin that was curious though reserved.

The store employee bustled back over when she saw that he was trying to decide.

"Would you like to get a bit closer before you decide?" She asked.

"Yes." Castiel pointed to the spotted one.

Her arm spines flexed again. Castiel decided it was in excitement and not anger. She must be from Kuqq. She tapped a code into the panel. "We've been calling this one Dean for short. Its last owner called it De*anlk."

Castiel snorted in amusement. He would bet his ship that the human's last owner was a Lsserwrat. No one else would name their pet after body fluids.

The employee let out a single sharp click. "There's no accounting for taste." She pushed the panel open and motioned for Castiel to go in. "It comes to Dean, although it's not the most trustful of strangers but it warms up to people quickly."

Castiel stepped in. The human stepped back and eyed Castiel's bladed tail warily. Castiel wrapped his bladed tail around his leg and crouched down to the human's level.

"Here, Dean." Castiel tapped a claw against the floor.

The human made a series of faces at him before hesitantly edging closer. Castiel tapped the floor in front of him again. The human crept closer then sat down on the floor in front of Castiel.

Castiel reached out to gently run his claws along the human's scalp but the human ducked out of the way and stared at his hand. It took Castiel a moment to understand. The human was afraid of his claws.

Castiel hummed in surprise. Everything he had heard about humans said they were brazenly confident, almost to the point of self-destruction. That was why they were better companions for space. They didn't comprehend the dangers like some pets did. 

Maybe this was one of the few sensible humans and he wouldn't have to train it to not get into trouble.

He curled his claws into his palm and tried to pet it again. This time it was more than happy to let him rub his knuckles along its neck and cheek.

It bared its teeth at him. Castiel jerked back and arched his bladed tail. He'd read about human bites. Their mouths were disease ridden. Left untreated a human bite could cause some of the worst infections.

The store employee hissed in amusement. "Don't worry. It wasn't going to bite."

Castiel eyed the human carefully. It had ducked down and froze at Castiel's quick movements and was looking up cautiously at him.

"Humans bare their teeth sometimes when they're happy." The store employee explained. She reached around Castiel and scratched a spot below the human's jaw. It relaxed into her touch and bared its teeth again. "See how its lips turn up at the corners and its face scrunches up? That's a good sign."

"But sometimes they _do_ bare their teeth in aggression." She stopped scratching the human's jaw and flexed her arm, clicking two spines together to make a sharp click.

The human sat up alert and stared at her intently.

"Who's scary?" She asked.

The human immediately squared its shoulders and showed its teeth.

"That's what an aggressive show will look like." The employee said. She clicked her spines again. The human relaxed. "The lips only pull up in front. You actually see less teeth."

Castiel flicked his tail in acknowledgement. It seemed backwards but then, humans had evolved on an unusual planet.

They employee motioned for Castiel to try out scratching the human's jaw. The human stiffened at first but when Castiel didn't make any sudden movements it relaxed and made a pleased noise. He ran his knuckles over the human a few times, exploring its skin, before he stepped out of its cage.

The employee closed the panel. "Any others you'd like to look at?"

"That one." Castiel pointed to the red haired one.

The employee puffed up in worry. "That one might not be suitable to travel. It's something of an escape artist."

Castiel looked it over. It was smaller than the other one. It could probably hide more easily in the ship. Or the cargo. He glanced down the row of cages. "Are there any you think would be more inclined to it?"

The employee led him back to the one that had curled up into a frightened ball. No amount of coaxing could get it to come closer to Castiel. They tried another that had seemed mildly interested in Castiel but it ultimately had just wanted to be fed.

"I think the spotted one is probably my best option." Castiel said.

"Are you looking at buying today?" The employee asked.

"Yes."

Her arm spines flexed in delight. "Excellent." She taped out a pattern on the panel of the human's cage. The panel faded to a murky green hiding the human from sight. "Do you have everything you'll need for a human?"

"No. Nothing actually." Castiel said. "And I'm leaving the planet shortly. That won't be a problem?"

"Oh, no!" The employee said. "We have everything right here. Even the travel options."

It did not surprise Castiel at all that he was soon following her through the store with an ever increasing pile of things for the care of humans.

"It's biologically male. So it's a little more maintenance than a female but don't let that discourage you." The employee said as she tallied the bill. "All humans are rather easy to take care of once they're out of the juvenile stage."

"How old is it?" Castiel hadn't thought to ask before. What if he was buying a geriatric pet?

"Twenty eight."

Castiel balked. It was just an infant still. He wasn't sure what was worse. An old pet or a too young pet.

The store employee let out another hiss of amusement. "Twenty eight is roughly thirty percent of its life span. They only live to about one hundred."

"Oh." Castiel relaxed. He hadn't realized humans were so short lived.

That was probably for the best. He wouldn't be burdened with a pet for most of his life if he didn't want it.

The store employee took a few more minutes to finish his bill and pack all his things into a shipping drone. Castiel watched the overladen drone take off with a sense of defeat. He had bought a pet.

"They're fine to walk with unprotected feet on most smooth surfaces within temperatures they're comfortable with but otherwise I recommend the foot coverings that we picked out." The store employee said, clipping a collar around the human's neck and adding a leash. She passed the leash to Castiel. "Dean's very well trained to walk on a leash."

"Good." Castiel took the leash and stared down at the human. _His_ human.

The store employee gave Dean one last scratch to the jaw then congratulated Castiel on his new pet before hurrying away to help the next customer.

Castiel looked his human over. It stared back at him, waiting for a command. Castiel sighed. There was no point in stalling. He should take the human back to his ship and start training it while he was grounded.

"Dean, follow." Castiel said, leading the way.

Despite his worries the human followed easily. It looked this way and that as they walked through the city but it didn't pull at the leash or make a trouble. It seemed he had lucked out and bought a well behaved human.

The only stumble was when they reached the ship. It jumped in surprise and tried to run when the door to the ship opened. It got to the end of its leash and fell backwards when its legs kept going but its neck was stopped short by the leash.

It laid on the ground and made harsh huffing noises. Castiel waited a moment before helping it upright. It looked up at him with wide eyes then tried to hide behind him. Castiel looked at the door to the ship. He wasn't sure if his new pet had just been startled but the sudden noise of the door opening or if his pet had a fear of loud noises.

He'd have to find out soon. He couldn't have a pet running around frightened during an emergency.

He picked his pet up, intent on carrying it through the door, but it squirmed to be put down. Castiel dropped it to its feet. It huffed indignantly at him then slowly approached the door.

Castiel followed behind it and waited, letting it get acquainted with the door. When it had decided the door wasn't a danger it came back to his side and waited patiently.

"Good pet." Castiel praised. He rubbed his knuckles under its jaw. It hummed with pleasure and leaned against him. "Good Dean."


	2. Chapter 2

Dean eyed the wall warily. He reached out slowly and tapped it. Nothing happened. His shoulders tightened up. He took a step over, braced himself, and tapped. Nothing happened. He took another step over and did the whole song and dance again.

He cursed to himself. He knew the door was _somewhere_ along this twelve feet of corridor. He just couldn't see the damn thing. Either his newest master could see beyond or below his own range of vision or else he was hooked up to the ship. But he knew there was _something_ to mark the doors because his master would stop in front of them and read what he thought must be manifests or inventories.

He hated having to—  

A part of the wall popped off and slid down. Dean yelped and stumbled back. He glared at the door that had been all but invisible a second ago.

"Stupid fucking doors." Dean muttered, giving the door the dirtiest look he could muster. The stupid things had been terrifying him since day one.

He walked through the doorway, shoulders tense, and only breathed in relief when he reached the other side. The door sliced back up into place behind him. Dean shivered. He didn't know how the doors knew not to chop him in half.

A series of hisses and clicks of claws made him pick up his pace. His master was calling him. He jogged down the rows of crates, careful to avoid stepping on or in anything on the floor. Not for the first time he wished he _at least_ had some shoes.

He knew his master had bought him shoes and clothes but apparently he didn't want to bother cleaning them in transit because Dean hadn't been given a single stitch to wear since getting on board his master's ship.

He found big green and scaly half inside the wall working on something. Dean hoped that something was whatever had been making that godawful screeching noise last night.

He stopped a few feet away, out of reach of that nasty long tail with the dagger on it. It twitched a few times then pointed at a pile of tools further away on the floor. There were a few growls and a click. Dean sighed. He'd figured out that word last week, _fetch._

He went over to the pile of tools and picked out the one his master was asking for. He didn't know what the long stick thing with a red ball on the end actually did but it was the size of his calf and damn heavy.

He dragged it over to his master, braving the dagger tail, and reached up to tap him on the hip.

"Here's your ball-stick thing." Dean said.

His master pulled his upper half out of the hole in the wall. His face did a weird spasm that Dean thought was probably a good thing. He reached down and rubbed the back of Dean's neck with his knuckles.

Dean leaned into it because that's what pets were expected to do. "Yeah. Thanks. Great. Just don't claw me with those things."

He got another series of hisses that he was pretty sure meant, _good Dean._

"Yeah. I'm awesome." Dean said sarcastically. He reached over and wrapped an arm around his master's leg. He got fed faster if he was affectionate back. "As thrilling as the ball-stick thing is maybe it's time for breakfast?"

His master made a snorting sound that Dean still didn't understand. Sometimes the snorting was a good sound but sometimes it was bad. He wasn't even sure it was supposed to mean anything. Maybe giant lizard guys were all prone to runny noses.

Although, he wasn't sure his master _had_ a nose.

The snorting sound was good this time. His master made a series of noises that Dean knew meant _something_ good in relation to him.

His master rolled a ball the size of Dean's head around in his clawed hands. It was some kind of transport sized sanitizer unit. Dean had seen them before with other masters but none of his previous masters had been big enough to just carry one around like a toy.

His master set the sanitizer unit down then reached for Dean. Dean braced himself for lift off. That was something else about having a master twice the size of him, he could pick him up.

Dean hated it ‒ he had gotten clawed by accident the first few times ‒ but it usually meant his master was happy about whatever he'd done. Not to mention he didn't have to stand around and guess where the doors were. His master just carried him through. It was worth putting up with.

His master picked him up and tucked him in close to his bony chest. He hissed a few times then went silent.

Dean filled the silence, rambling about anything that came to mind, as huge knuckles rubbed along his spine.

Dean's heart sank when his master didn't bring him to the kitchen but instead the bathroom. On the ever increasing list of things he hated about his master's ship the bathroom was up there with invisible doors that could chop him in half without warning.

His master dropped him down onto a table in the middle of the room. Dean flopped backwards, closed his eyes, and let his mind wander. He knew there wasn't any fighting this. He had tried to wash up by himself the first few times but his master had eventually tied him down and done it anyway. If he didn't want to be tied down he had to go along with it.

And besides, his master wanted it this way. A good pet did what their master wanted or risked being abandoned, spaced, locked away and forgotten, or _eaten_ if they were particularly bad. Dean had seen it all. He could put up with being bathed.

He flinched when the first huge wipe glided down his legs. The cold cloth made goosebumps rise up on his legs. He cracked an eye open. "What do you do? Keep them in the freezer?"

His master snorted.

Dean huffed. "Sure. Whatever. Just hurry up. I'm hungry."

His master pushed and pulled him into different positions as he wiped him down. The most awkward part was always the last. His master would pick up a little sponge brush with his other tail and jam the brush into his mouth. He had seriously considered biting that second tail more than a few times when his master had shoved the brush in a little too hard.

It was one thing to have someone manhandle him through a bath but something about his master brushing his teeth for him really dug under his skin. He'd never had a master who had thought he was this useless before.

The sponge brush was yanked out of his mouth. He got another rub of the knuckles on his side and a _good Dean._

His master scooped him up from the table and set him down on his feet on the floor. Dean had a sneaking suspicion his master had only carried him to the bathroom because he knew he hated it and didn't want him trying to get away.

Another couple of hisses and claw clicks caught his attention.

" _Follow, Dean."_

"I hope were gonna eat this time." Dean grumbled. His master snorted and pet him. Dean leaned against his leg. "Yeah. See? I'm really happy about being wiped down like a baby. Now let's eat."

His master strode out of the bathroom at a slow pace. Dean had to jog to keep up. For every step his master took he had to take three.

His master led him on a winding path through the ship. Dean still hadn't managed to map it all out in his head. He knew how to get to the bathroom, the storage bays, and his master's bedroom. That was it.

He groaned in pleasure when his master stopped in the corridor, tapped the wall, and a door popped open to the kitchen.

"Finally." Dean hurried in after his master before the door chopped a piece of him off.

His master went to a counter and opened cupboards above it. If Dean stood back a few feet he could just see the top of the counter.

His master clicked his claws while he filled a bowl for Dean.

Dean darted forward and wrapped an arm around his master's leg. "Come on, dude. Double rations. You forgot my dinner last night."

His master glanced down. His face did the weird thing again. He reached down and pet Dean's head.

"Yeah. Look how adorable I am." Dean encouraged. "I'd look even better on a full stomach."

His master passed him a bowl with the same amount he always got. Dean sighed but took it. He'd have to get better at reminding his master to feed him. He knew they weren't on the same day-night cycle for sleeping and from what he could tell they weren't on a similar feeding pattern either. He'd only seen his master eat a handful of times.

Dean took his bowl and went over to his couch. It was practically doll furniture in comparison to his master but it fit him well enough.

He dug into his breakfast. Which was the same mush as his dinner and snacks but breakfast was flavoured with something sweet. Out of all the weird stuff his masters had fed him over the years it was as close to a favourite as he had come.

" _Here, Dean."_

Dean glanced up. His master was sprawled in his chair in the corner. His dagger tail flicked at him. Dean sighed. He scooped up the last of his breakfast and licked his fingers clean— nobody ever gave pets spoons. He got up, shoved his bowl up onto the counter, and went to his master.

He climbed up his master's huge chair and snuggled in next to him. His master wrapped an arm around him and pulled him in closer.

The room filled with a garble of noise. Dean wasn't sure if it was supposed to be music or a newsfeed. Dean settled in for a few boring hours of being a lap pet and having a headache from the jumble of noise.

His master reached out with his second tail and pushed something on the nearby wall. Dean watched and wondered just how many buttons and signs were scattered throughout the ship that he couldn't even see.

A quick flicker across the room made him turn his head. Dean's heart started pounding. His master had turned on an outside view.

He squirmed against his master until he had his face shoved into the one soft spot on his master's belly.

He hated space. He hated ships. He hated flying. He could ignore it if he didn't see it. As long as the gravity worked on a ship he couldn't tell the difference between ground and a flying death trap. But the moment he saw all that black fear flooded through him.

He pressed his face harder into his master. His master snorted and stroked his side. Dean snaked his arms around his master. He hated taking comfort from masters but he didn't have anyone else.

"Fuck. I hate flying." Dean moaned. "Why'd you have to own a ship?"

His master went on absently stroking him.

A deep rumbling growl came through in the jumbled noise his master was listening to. Dean shuddered. The growl drudged up old memories of being snatched off Earth with a bunch of other terrified kids.

He flicked his eyes open before his head could start playing the re-runs of being shoved into a clear crate ‒ all so giant monsters could see the contents ‒ and that horrible growl of a cargo door opening into empty black. The monsters had shoved crate after crate out into the nothing on entry orbits then closed the cargo door behind them.

Dean pressed closer to his master. He knew the ship wasn't shaking apart as it plummeted towards a planet. That was just him shaking in his own skin.

A light filmy blanket settled over him. His master hissed something long. Dean caught his name at the end of it. Dean turned his head to his master. Two green-yellow eyes stared down at him. There was more hissing. His master tapped Dean's head with one claw and hissed again.

"Yeah, well, you try getting flung out into space in a damn box." Dean growled. He grabbed the blanket and tucked it more tightly around himself.

His master's head tucked down. The green-yellow of his eyes turned more yellow than green. He shifted Dean off the soft spot on his belly then cradled his dagger tail around Dean.

"Just don't slice me open again." Dean complained.

His master hissed and leaned into his chair.

Dean's stomach was growling by the time his master decided to get up. Dean wriggled off his master's lap and kept the outside view blocked from his sight with the blanket.

His master snorted and pet him then went to the counter again. Dean slid off the chair and followed him over. He kept his head down, careful not to look at the emptiness on the far wall.

He was handed another bowl of mush, this one flavoured to be spicy. He sat down and ate it with his back to the outside view.

Once he was done his master took the bowl back to clean. Dean sat on the floor beside him and leaned against his master's leg.

"Don't know how people actually _like_ looking at space." Dean muttered. "Everything in it wants to kill you."

His master finished cleaning the bowls from breakfast and dinner. He hissed something at Dean then bent down and picked him up, blanket and all.

Dean didn't even want to fight it this time. If his master was willing to take him out of the kitchen and away from the outside view he would be happy to sit through another bath.

His master carried him to the bedroom. Dean was gently placed at the bottom of the bed. His master sat down beside him and stretched his tails. Dean carefully watched where the dagger tail went.

His master clicked his claws and hissed then stripped his clothes off. Dean rolled over to the far side of the bed. It had made him nervous the first few times his master had stripped down in the bedroom. He had heard of masters buying pets for _other_ things. But it turned out his master just preferred to sleep in the buff.

His master crawled into bed. He tapped the wall above the top of the bed. The light dimmed to near absolute darkness.

Dean shuffled over and draped an arm over his master's leg. He wasn't exactly tired. He hadn't done anything all day. But he knew his master liked the physical contact. He'd doze for a while then get up and try to figure out more of the ship. He'd make sure he was back in the bedroom before his master woke up.

Maybe if he was extra cuddly when his master woke up he could get that extra ration tomorrow.


	3. Chapter 3

"The stabilizer." Castiel tested.

Dean bit his lip and looked over the tools on the floor. He carefully picked up the stabilizer and dragged it over to Castiel.

"Good Dean." Castiel praised, taking the tool.

Dean's face scrunched up with joy— a quick search and Castiel had found the behaviour was called _smiling._ He chattered at Castiel in a rhythm and tone Castiel had come to think of as Dean being pleased with himself.

"Yes. Very good." Castiel cooed. He gave Dean a few scritches just under his ear. "You're quite a smart little pet, aren't you?"

Castiel knew his pet was probably no more intelligent than most humans but with nothing else to focus on during a shipment it was hard not to be endlessly amazed at all the commands Dean could remember.

He understood now why people bragged about their pets even if he was loathed to admit it. Although he hadn't sunk so far as to be taking pictures of Dean and sharing them with strangers.

Dean chattered on as Castiel worked. It had taken a while for him to get used to how much noise Dean made but now that he was used to it, it was rather pleasant.

He honestly didn't know why he was so against getting a pet in the first place. The human was easy to take care of, companionable, and quick to obey. Dean didn't have the same sleep rhythm or eating patterns as him but there was a certain charm in having his pet curl up beside him and nap or get excited about its meals.

Castiel looked down when he realized the chattering had tapered off. He hummed in pleasure. Dean had fallen asleep, cuddled against his leg. Castiel finished up his project then picked Dean up. It was rare that their sleep schedules lined up but it was always pleasant when they did.

He carried Dean to his bedroom and placed him at the bottom of the bed. Dean snuffled, half-awake, and reached for his blanket.

Castiel stripped off his work clothes and cleaned up then crawled into bed. Dean was quick to wrap around his leg and murmur against his skin.

Castiel reached down and pet Dean's head. It was a soothing ritual all things said. His therapist was right. He needed touch. And a pet was the exact kind of low key touch he needed.

He drifted off to sleep with Dean wrapped around him making his content human noises.

It was the feeling of an imminent orgasm that woke him up. He snapped his eyes open. The dream of perfect mates didn't fade. He sat up to find his mating tail wrapped around Dean and the human nuzzling his face against it, nosing at the sensitive opening that had unfurled in his sleep.

He jerked his mating tail away from Dean. The human lurched awake. Castiel rolled off the bed. He stared at Dean. Dean stared back at him, confused and startled. Castiel doubted Dean had any idea what he had done. He was just an innocent pet looking for warmth.

Dean started chattering in confusion. He pulled the blanket close to himself. He looked like he wanted to reach out to Castiel but was afraid.

"Dean, stay." Castiel said. He left his pet on the bed to go to the bathroom and clean himself off.

It was gross. His _pet_ had fondled his mating tail. He knew it was innocent. Dean didn't know any better. He was just a pet looking for the warmth of his master. But a _human_ had practically had its _nose_ in his mating tail.

He shuddered. What if it had bitten him? Through taking care of Dean's basic needs he knew human saliva wasn't inherently dangerous but Dean had bitten him once by accident and the bite had swollen up for hours after.

He used twice as many sanitizing wipes than what he probably needed to but he couldn't stop worrying about infections. He bathed Dean regularly but _still._ Dean was a _pet._ Humans weren't particularly dirty but they definitely weren't clean.

He went back to the bedroom to find Dean where he left him. He stared down at his human and tried to think of a way to train him not to touch his mating tail. He came up with a blank. Dean had never shown interest in touching his mating tail before and unless Dean started showing an interest in it Castiel wasn't sure how to train him to not touch it.

Dean chattered at him, worried and confused from what Castiel could tell. Castiel sighed. His pet didn't understand what he had done. Punishing him for it would only confuse him more. Dean probably wouldn't make the connection between the punishment and touching his mating tail.

"It's okay, Dean." Castiel soothed. He sat down on the bed and pulled Dean into his lap. He dragged his claws lightly over Dean's skin. "Good pet. Good human."

Dean sighed and relaxed. He pulled the blanket around himself and after a few minutes, went back to sleep. Castiel gave a quiet snort of amusement. He doubted Dean would even remember the incident when he woke up.

Castiel pet him for a few more moments before gently lifting him off his lap and placing him on the bed. He made sure the blanket was tucked in around him before leaving him to sleep.

When Dean woke up and started begging to be fed there was no indication that he remembered in the slightest what had happened. Castiel made sure to keep his mating tail wrapped around himself just in case but after a few days it was apparent Dean didn't care about his mating tail.

He should have known it was an accident. Dean only cared about pleasing him, eating, and sleeping. Dean had never shown any interest in mating. It was an accident.

He came to a sudden stop in the hallway. It occurred to him that he had never actually asked if Dean had reached sexual maturity or was too old to be fertile. He didn't even know if Dean was sexually intact. He hadn't thought to ask. He'd never had any intention of breeding humans and he didn't have a second one to worry about.

He went to his office and brought up Dean's bill of sale. He scanned through it. He breathed in relief when he saw a small note at the end that Dean had been sterilized at the shop. At least he didn't have to worry about Dean getting loose on some planet and producing a bunch of kits with other humans.

He spent a few hours reading up on human life habits and came away thoroughly amused by how humans had been observed to mate with _anything._ Even inanimate objects or other animals. And tentatively worried about human mating cycles. The procedure done at the shop had sterilized Dean but it didn't alter his body's hormonal systems. Which meant he'd been letting a fully sexually developed human in the prime of their breeding life sleep in his bed. And humans would mate with anything.

His bladed tail twitched in disgust. What if Dean fondling his mating tail was just the beginning? What if Dean was entering a breeding phase and would only become more sexually aggressive as time went on?

He'd have to get Dean another pet bed and start making him sleep on the floor in the bedroom. He'd move Dean's bed from the kitchen into the bedroom in the meantime. At the next stop he'd purchase a second bed for Dean. And maybe inquire about some of the sterilization techniques that reduced the mating drive. He _did_ enjoy having his pet curled up around him when he slept after all. He just didn't want his pet trying to _mate_ with him.

Dean sleeping on the floor lasted three nights before Castiel's will broke down. He missed having Dean curled up with him. He hadn't realized how well he had been sleeping with the pet in his bed until he wasn't there anymore.

He picked Dean up the next night and put him in his bed. He left the pet bed in the bedroom in case Dean acted up.

All Dean did was stare at him and chatter for a few minutes before curling around his legs and going to sleep. He didn't make a move to touch Castiel's mating tail. He didn't start trying to mate with the blankets or the mattress. Dean just wanted to sleep somewhere warm.

He pet Dean's head and chuckled to himself. "You just like to stay warm. Don't you, little pet?"

Dean snuffled in his sleep. Castiel draped his bladed tail over Dean. Dean sighed and snuggled closer. Castiel snorted in amusement. How had he been afraid of his own pet? His little speckled human was anything _but_ sexually aggressive.  

Castiel flicked his mating tail in the air and snorted again. He had been so worked up about it. But Dean was a good pet. He knew better without having to be trained not to.

"Now I'm civilizing him." Castiel said dryly to the darkness. "Next I'll be one of those people who swear their pets understand them."

Castiel dropped his mating tail to the bed, careful to keep it as far from Dean as possible just in case.

The next morning he woke up with Dean wrapped around his leg and his mating tail exactly where he had left it.

Two days later Castiel decided to move the pet bed back to the kitchen. He had just been over-reacting to an innocent mishap. He had a spoiled little pet that liked to cuddle and nothing more.

Things fell back into their normal routine after that. He taught Dean new commands and Dean showed off trying to out preform himself, always begging for extra food after.

Castiel didn't indulge him often, he didn't want to overfeed his pet, but the occasional treat wasn't harmful.

And Dean had been particularly good at following commands today.

"I think you deserve a treat." Castiel said. He pet Dean's back. Dean chattered at him excitedly. Castiel snorted in amusement. Dean had learned the word _treat_ rather quickly. Castiel scritched under Dean's jaw. "Yes. A treat."

Dean followed him to the kitchen, bouncing along excitedly by his side. His excitement was infectious.

Dean plastered himself to his leg while Castiel got out a bowl and filled it with just a little human food then reached for the sweet smelling paste that Dean favoured to flavour it.

He mixed it up and gave the bowl to Dean. Dean swallowed it down so fast Castiel was concerned about him choking. But as soon as Dean was done he started eyeing the tube of flavouring paste.

Castiel had the tube halfway back to the cupboard when Dean wrapped around him again. He looked down to see pleading green eyes stare back up at him. Dean chattered sympathetically at him while nuzzling his leg.

Castiel sighed. He knew it was overdoing it. Dean had gotten his reward. But when Dean started chattering away and nuzzling his leg like that it was hard to say no.

He didn't get out more human food, Dean's food was rationed during trips just as his own, but he picked the bowl up and squeezed out a dollop of flavouring paste into it. He handed the bowl to Dean. Dean snatched at the bowl and dropped it. Castiel jerked down and caught it but at the cost of getting flavouring paste all over his claws and fingers. He grimaced but he knew the paste was harmless.

"Don't be greedy." Castiel scolded. Dean whined at him and dropped his gaze down as if Castiel was about to punish him. Castiel sighed and gave his pampered pet the bowl.

Dean took the bowl more carefully this time but still licked it clean with gusto. Then without warning he bent forward and licked the paste from Castiel's fingers.

The shock of the delicate soft tongue flicking over Castiel's skin was enough to make him freeze at first but once he realized that Dean was putting his _mouth_ all over his hand Castiel pulled away.

Dean pouted at him and chattered incessantly while Castiel sanitized his hand. It was far from the first time he had gotten Dean's saliva on him. Dean had a tendency to drool in his sleep. But it wasn't exactly hygienic. It was frankly disgusting. He had seen Dean use his mouth to open things or tear things apart. The plethora of bacteria a human mouth housed was why he brushed Dean's teeth so frequently.

Dean leaned against his leg and looked up at him.

"No more." Castiel said firmly.

Dean huffed and slinked away to go sit on his pet bed and feel hard done by. Castiel flicked both his tails in dry amusement. His pet was truly spoiled. He had gotten _two_ treats and was still going to pout about it.

His pet seemed to forgive him for the horror of only getting two treats after it had a nap and another meal.

He spent the rest of the day testing the commands he had taught Dean in the morning. Dean happily obeyed and only once brought him the wrong thing. Castiel wasn't too hard on him. He wasn't entirely sure Dean could hear the whole word. Part of it was right at the lower range of human hearing. He modified the command after that and Dean didn't have any more problems with it.

At the end of the day he fed Dean again then carried him to the bathroom for a bath. He knew his pet would try to avoid baths if he could. Making sure he was sleepy with food and carrying him to it made things go smoother.

Dean was his usual grumpy self about being bathed. He'd twist away or chatter darkly at him while eyeing the sanitizing clothes like he wanted to bite them.

Castiel sighed and clipped Dean's collar and leash on. He tied the leash off to the counter. For a short while Dean had been good about being bathed but lately he wouldn't sit still.

"Be still." Castiel tugged at the leash to get Dean's attention. The leash wasn't tight enough to keep him in place but it seemed to remind him to not squirm so much.

Dean glared at him and made huffy displeased sounds but he did stop squirming. Castiel didn't chastise him for it. He knew when to pick his battles when training Dean. And this wasn't the time. He still had to brush Dean's teeth. He hoped they wouldn't have another incident over the toothbrush today.

Castiel picked up the tooth brush with his mating tail. It was too delicate for his claws to grasp. He let Dean see the brush well before he brought it to Dean's mouth.

Dean narrowed his eyes at the brush. Castiel was sure he was going to stubbornly keep his mouth closed but Dean glanced up at him and slowly opened his mouth.

Castiel worked fast. If he could just get through brushing Dean's teeth without incident he'd be happy to praise his pet for a job well done even if his pet had sullenly sat there and glared at him the whole time.

He scrubbed the brush over Dean's teeth, happy that Dean was obeying again, when he felt the scales along his back rise up.

Castiel froze in mid scrub. His scales stayed aroused and stuck up. His eyes flicked between his mating tail and Dean's mouth. He shuddered at the memory of Dean's tongue flicking over his hands.

He slowly took the brush from Dean's mouth. Dean started chattering at him. Castiel ignored him in favour of tossing the toothbrush aside and turning away. He rolled his shoulders and forced his scales back down. The rush of arousal slowly faded.

He added finding partners for a day or two to his list of things for his next stop.

He turned back around and unclipped Dean from the leash and collar. He picked up his pet and carried him to the bedroom.

Dean quickly burrowed into his blanket and sighed happily, apparently having already forgotten how much he didn't like baths.

Castiel stared down at his half asleep pet. He flexed the claws of his hand that Dean had licked. The sense memory of his pet's tiny tongue made his scales rise up again. He shook himself. Dean was a _pet._ Dean stuck just about anything in his mouth and rolled around on the floor, that wasn't something to get aroused about.

He wrote himself a note to absolutely not pass on finding partners at his next stop even if he thought he didn't need to by then.

He stripped down and got into bed. He pushed Dean aside so he could stretch out. Dean grumbled about being moved then wrapped himself around one of Castiel's legs.

In seconds Castiel could hear Dean's breathing even out. His pet was already asleep.

Castiel laid awake for hours.

His head kept playing Dean licking his hand over and over and how close his mating tail had come to Dean's mouth in the past. He could feel the scales of his back try to rise up again. He twisted in bed and pushed them back down. His mating tail twitched. He wrapped it tightly around his bladed tail.

Castiel tapped his claws on his chest. Dean was a _pet._ His pet that trusted him with everything and only ever wanted to please him. And there he was fantasying about what it would feel like if Dean licked at his mating tail.

It was gross.

And pet abuse.

He felt the opening of his mating tail unfurl.

Castiel moved to sit up. He had a warming sheath stuffed into the back of his dresser. It was a poor substitute for mates but he could shove his mating tail into that and grasp the soft fake egg at the bottom and not have to feel guilty about abusing his pet or worry about getting some disease from him.

Dean grumbled as he untangled his leg from him and got up. Castiel rummaged through his dresser and found the sheath. He worked it on over his mating tail then got back into bed.

He woke up to his mating tail wrapped tightly around Dean. The warming sheath squished uncomfortably around his mating tail but hadn't let any fluids out.

Dean chose then to wake up. He yawned and let go of Castiel's leg and blinked in slow surprise when he saw Castiel's mating tail wrapped around his midsection.

Dean poked at his mating tail and the warming sheath. He glanced up at Castiel and chattered.

Castiel was at war with himself. Dean didn't seem to understand what his mating tail was. He just seemed to be interested in the new thing his master had decided to do. It wasn't upsetting Dean to have his master's mating tail wrapped around him. But Dean didn't _know_ any better. He was just an innocent pet.

Dean sat up and looked down at Castiel's mating tail. He chattered and trailed his fingers along where the warming sheath ended.

Guilt rushed through Castiel as he tugged Dean back down to the bed with his mating tail. Dean looked up at him. Castiel waited to see if his actions had upset his pet. Dean chattered at him again but didn't struggle to get away. Instead Dean wrapped an arm around Castiel's leg again and nuzzled into his side.

Castiel breathed deep and let out a long guilty hiss. It felt _good_ to have his mating tail wrapped around a warm body but it was his _pet's_ warm body. His pet that didn't know any better. Dean probably just thought it was some new show of affection.

He didn't let go even though he knew he should. But it wasn't as if he was using his _pet_ to masturbate. His mating tail was warm and snug in the sheath, the unfurled opening was safely away from Dean.

It wasn't _really_ harming his pet to just wrap his mating tail around him for a little bit. If Dean didn't like it or was being hurt he knew the human wasn't afraid to bite him in retaliation. The swelling in his mating tail from a bite would be his own fault if it happened.

Castiel relaxed into the mattress. Dean wasn't upset about it. If anything, Dean seemed happy to have his mating tail wrapped around him, holding him tight.

Castiel squeezed the opening of his mating tail around the fake egg at the bottom of the warming sheath. A little rush of pleasure raced through him. Dean squirmed as his mating tail flexed around him.

Castiel laid a hand on Dean's head. "Be still."

He felt Dean go limp against him. Castiel squeezed the egg again for another burst of pleasure. Dean chattered at him. It was obvious Dean didn't understand what he was doing but he wasn't upset. He shifted his mating tail around Dean until he found a warmer place to press against his pet.  

Castiel stroked his pet's head then tapped his claws on his chest again. Another wave of guilt washed through him as a thought occurred to him, Dean was only a pet and didn't understand how people mated but pets could be trained.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized, writing this, that there is no non-human-centric word for anthropomorphize. The best I could come up with was civilize and event hat sounds awkward.


	4. Chapter 4

His master's second tail draped over his shoulder and rubbed under his chin. Dean leaned into the touch. His master made a bunch of pleased hissing.

" _Good Dean."_

"Sure, dude." Dean laughed. He moved his head in tangent with the rubbing. His master did his own weird giant lizard version of smiling. Dean shot a look up at the counter. "Now how about dinner?"

His master snorted ‒ Dean thought it was probably something like a laugh ‒ then started to take out Dean's bowl and the food. He kept his second tail where it was, still rubbing under Dean's chin.

The second tail touching was new. Sometimes his master had used his dagger tail to heft him up or pull him closer but ever since that day Dean had been jerked awake by his master yanking his second tail away from him the second tail had been kept carefully away.

At the time Dean had been sure then that he was going to get punished for whatever it was he had apparently done but his master had disappeared for a bit then come back and pet him. Dean figured he must have squashed the second tail in his sleep or something but that his master had figured out he hadn't meant to hurt him.

He'd been careful to keep away from it after that. He didn't want to give his master a reason to think he'd attack him.

Then a couple of days ago he had woken up to his master's second tail bandaged up and wrapped around him. Ever since then his master had been happy to pet him with it and give him extra snacks almost every time he begged for them.

Dean wondered if he had accidentally alerted his master to a tumour or something in his second tail like those stories about dogs back on Earth. The thought made him laugh every time. He was happy to let his master think he had intentionally saved his life if it meant getting fed on time.

The second tail unwound from his shoulders to pick up the bowl from the counter. Dean gently took the bowl from his master's second tail and got another _good Dean_ for it.

"Yep." Dean agreed. "I'm a hell of a lot better when you actually remember to feed me."

He started over to his couch but his master caught him around the middle and heaved him up.

"Whoa! Hey!" Dean squawked.

His master snorted at him and pet his hair with his second tail. He carried Dean over to his chair in the corner and sat down. He arranged Dean in his lap. He snorted again at the disgruntled noises Dean made.

"Yeah. Really funny." Dean muttered, fake smile on his face. "Love it when dumb giant lizard monsters just grab me and haul me off without warning."

His master clicked his claws at him then took the bowl of food away.

"Hey!" Dean yelped. He twisted in his master's lap. "Come on. I didn't mean it."

His master stared down at him with his creepy yellow-green eyes. He carefully balanced the bowl in the palm of his hand. It looked like minuscule surrounded by his master's claws.

Dean reached for the bowl. His master pulled his hand away. Dean scowled at him. His master tapped his head with a claw. Dean rolled his eyes. He had learned that the tap to the head usually meant _stop._

His master's second tail arched around Dean. The very tip dipped into the bowl and scooped out a mouthful of mush. He clicked his claws and hissed and said Dean's name.

Dean didn't know what it meant but he recognized a command when he heard one now. Dean shrugged at him. "I don't get it."

His master repeated himself but this time he pushed his tail towards Dean's face.

Dean stared at the tail in front of him. He turned and looked up at his master. "You've got to be kidding."

His master bumped his back with a claw and pushed him towards his tail. He repeated the command.

Dean grimaced. "Seriously?"

His master bumped him and said the command again. Dean sighed. He wasn't the first master to want to hand feed him. He looked at the lump of mush on his master's second tail. He guessed it wasn't as bad as that master that had wanted to toss him bits of kibble and watch him catch it with his mouth.

His master brought his tail closer to Dean's face. He said the command again. Dean figured it probably meant _gentle_ or _no biting._ As if he was stupid enough to bite the hand ‒ _tail_ ‒ that fed him. Well. Fed him most of the time.

Dean leaned forward. He felt his master tense underneath him before saying the command again. Dean carefully licked half the mush from his master's tail. He felt his master tense up even more.

Dean swallowed his mush. "Dude, if you're that worried about me biting you, you could just give me the bowl back."

His master pushed his tail into Dean's face and repeated the command.

"Or I guess we can keep doing this." Dean said dryly. He leaned in and licked the other half of the mush up.

His master fed him half the bowl like that before giving the bowl back to Dean and dropping him down on the floor with a _good Dean._

It wasn't the weirdest thing his master had done and Dean doubted it would be the last weird thing his master did.

He had watched his master stand stock still for two hours once. They had been walking along the corridor when his master had just stopped dead. No matter what Dean had done to get his attention his master hadn't budged. He had freaked out a bit about the prospect of being trapped on a ship in the middle of space but then his master had sprung back to life and wandered down a different corridor like nothing had happened.

Dean didn't know if his master came from a weird species or if his master was just a weird guy all on his own.

After dinner Dean found his way back to the bedroom and curled up for the night.

In the morning he went on the hunt for his master. When he found him his master made him run through a bunch of commands before carrying him to the kitchen for breakfast.

They had another weird hand feeding— _tail_ feeding session for breakfast. His master got all nervous about it and practically shoved him off his lap halfway through and raced out the door.

Dean didn't see him for the rest of the day ‒ there was still miles of ship he hadn't mapped out yet ‒ but his master was back twelve hours later. Right on time for dinner.

This time his master didn't flip out and managed to get through the whole bowl before letting Dean go. Honestly, Dean wished his master was still nervous about it. He'd rather feed himself.

His master didn't let him go after dinner which meant one thing: bath time.

Dean grumbled about it but his master carried him to the bathroom anyway.

He put up with being shoved around and wiped down but he couldn't take it anymore when they got to the damn toothbrush part. He _hated_ it. It felt weird and it tasted funny and his master never seemed to realize he was jamming it in too far and too hard.

He tried to twist away but that only got him tied down with the leash and collar. His master brought the toothbrush back up to his mouth. This time Dean refused to open up for him. He set his jaw and glared.

" _Bad Dean."_

He turned his head away. His master hissed and clicked at him. Dean didn't look back. The hissing and clicking stopped.

A huge clawed hand wrapped around his head. Dean yelped. The tip of a single claw pushed into his mouth and lodged between his teeth. Dean froze. Those claws were like razors. He looked up at his master pleadingly.

His master hissed something that Dean didn't think was sympathetic then picked up the toothbrush again and finished brushing Dean's teeth.

His master took his claw out of his mouth and unclipped his leash. He reached out to pet Dean. Dean recoiled from him and his claws.

His master tapped his claws along his chest and studied Dean. Dean jumped in surprise when the second tail curled around his leg. His master made the gentlest sound a giant lizard monster could then slowly reached out and scratched a claw through Dean's hair.

Dean sighed in defeat. "If you just let me do it..."

His master scooped him up from the table and carried him to the bedroom. His master put him down on the bed and spread his blanket over Dean.

Dean curled into the blanket and ignored his master. He didn't know if it would be better or worse if his master understood him. Maybe he could explain to him why he hated bath time and his master would finally let him do it on his own. Or maybe he'd explain it and his master would just snort at him and do it anyway.

The bed dipped down. Dean shuffled over so he didn't get kicked by huge clawed feet. He debated on not curling around his master just to show him how much he hated bath time but he was sure lashing out now would just get him punished.

He shuffled up the bed and wrapped an arm around his master's leg. His master reached down and wrapped his second tail around Dean. It was bandaged up again. It flexed around Dean's waist. Dean shifted his arms and let it snug up higher on his chest.

" _Good Dean."_

Dean huffed. "Yeah. Great."

The next time bath time rolled around his master gave him a sharp look and shoved a nasty looking metal thing into his mouth to hold it open.

His master carried him to the bedroom after and set him down on the bed. Dean gave him a pointed look, took his blanket, and went to the kitchen to sleep on his couch.

Dean thought his master would either come stomping after him and carry him back to the bedroom or at least growl out a few _bad Deans_ in the kitchen. But his master never bothered to find him.

It was weird sleeping alone again. He didn't actually _like_ cuddling up with his master— he always had to watch out for claws. He'd rather cuddle up with other humans or some of the furry pets his other masters had kept. But he had gotten used to wrapping an arm around his master's leg and the way his master's tail would wrap around him.

When he woke the next morning he didn't feel any better for having snubbed his master. He was cold and achy from sleeping on the couch instead of in his master's warm bed. He should have known better. He had been just as achy that time his master had banished him to the couch for a week.

He stretched and groaned. He muttered to himself about the couch but his aches and pains were his own fault this time. His master had wanted him to sleep in the bed. He had chosen the stupid couch instead.

He wasn't going to make that mistake twice. When he went to bed tonight he'd crawl into his master's bed, no matter how he felt about bath time.

He rubbed at his face as he ambled down the corridors to the bathroom. He eyed the counter where his master gave him baths while he took a leak. If his master would just let him brush his own damn teeth...

Dean sighed. What was the point in agonizing about it? His master wasn't going to let him do it. If he didn't want the metal contraption shoved into his mouth again to pry his jaws open he'd let his master brush his teeth.

He finished up in the bathroom then went in search of his master so he could start begging for breakfast.

He wandered the corridors and called out for his master but didn't hear any of his master's hisses or clicks. His master was probably deep in one of the cargo holds again. If he wanted breakfast he'd have to find him. Which meant wandering around looking for doors.

Dean groaned and let his head fall back. "I hate _doors."_

He took a left and headed for a cargo hold that had been giving his master trouble since day one. Whatever was in the non-descript yellow boxes in that hold seemed to shift around and move on its own. His master was forever rearranging them and tying them back down. Dean didn't want to know what was inside.

At the last turn before the door to the cargo hold Dean started counting his steps. The door was about seventeen steps from the turn. He had tried making marks on the walls to show where the doors were but nothing ever stayed. The marks were always gone in a couple of hours.

He counted off seventeen steps and tapped the wall. Nothing happened. He backed up a few steps and tapped again. Still nothing. He went ahead a few steps and tried there but nothing opened.

Dean frowned to himself. He looked up and down the corridor. He thought it was the right one but all the corridors looked the same. He thought over the map in his head. He was almost certain it was the right corridor but he had never gone from the bathroom to the cargo hold before. He must have gotten turned around. Normally he would be coming from his master's bedroom.

He backtracked to the bathroom then started for his master's bedroom. He had been sure the two corridors led to the same place but apparently not.

He was two feet from the corridor that led to his master's bedroom when the bulkhead door slammed shut in his face.

"Ah! Shit!" Dean jumped back. His body prickled with nerves. He _knew_ those damn doors were a safety hazard. He stalked back up to the door and kicked it. "Stupid fucking doors."

It took him a few minutes to gather up the courage to try to go through the giant guillotine that some alien genius thought would be a great ship feature.

He tapped the door.

It didn't open.

He tapped it again.

Nothing in the ship moved.

Dean backed up. Fear started pricking at the back of his head. He didn't know a lot about ships but he knew if a bulkhead door wouldn't open it was always a bad thing.

He took off at a run in the opposite direction. If he wasn't currently dying then that meant something bad was going on, on the other side of the door and he didn't want any part in that.

Every turn he took came to a dead end. All the corridors were closed off except the ones that led between the kitchen and the bathroom.

He was trapped.

Dean retreated to the kitchen. He went to his couch and grabbed his blanket. He wrapped it tightly around himself. He was trapped. He wasn't dying so whatever was going on was happening outside of the kitchen. But then that meant some kind of ship wide emergency was going on outside of the kitchen.

What if his master was dead? He'd be trapped in the ship until he died with him.

Dean let out a sob. He _hated_ ships. It wasn't fair that he was going to die in one all alone. He curled into a ball on the couch, pulled the blanket over his head, and cried himself to sleep.

A soft hiss woke him up hours later. Dean jerked upright. The blanket tangled around his limbs. He kicked and thrashed against it and ended up on the floor.

His master snorted at him. Two long claws lifted the blanket off him. Dean looked up and had never been happier to see a giant lizard monster in his life. He scrambled to his feet and flung his arms around his master's legs.

"The bulkheads were all closed! I thought you were dead!" Dean babbled against his master's leg. "What am I supposed to do if you die and I'm alone on the ship?"

His master made more soft hissing sounds and clicked his claws. He bent down and picked Dean up.

Dean curled into his master's bony chest and sobbed in relief. He wasn't going to waste away on a dead ship.

His master held him in one arm while he made Dean's dinner. When it was ready he carried Dean and the bowl over to the chair. He sat down and shifted Dean to his side. He dipped his tail into the bowl of mush and brought it up to Dean's face.

" _Gentle."_

Dean clutched at his master's arm and leaned forward to lick up his dinner. He sniffled and snorted through his meal. His master hissed softly at him and rubbed one huge knuckle up and down the side of Dean's neck. He draped the big dagger tail across Dean's legs.

Dean knew he must have looked particularly pathetic even after getting fed and cuddled because instead of his master simply leaving the room and telling him to _follow,_ his master scooped him up again and carried him to his office.

Dean spent the night curled up on his master's lap hugging the second tail to his chest.

It took Dean three days to realize the ship hadn't been damaged. He had been punished for snubbing his master.


	5. Chapter 5

Castiel had read that isolation was an effective punishment for humans but he hadn't thought it would be _this_ effective. Dean had barely left his side since after his punishment. He had enjoyed it at first, having Dean eager to sit with him and cuddle up to him, but after a few days of Dean being constantly underfoot it was aggravating.

Everywhere he went he was shadowed by Dean. When he tried to put Dean in another room all he heard over the intercom was Dean's lonely little cries. He had tried turning the audio off and leaving just the visual so he could still check on Dean but _watching_ his pet sadly pace down corridors was even worse.

He had finally resorted to putting Dean on his leash and tying him off a short distance away from wherever he worked. Dean hadn't liked it at first but Castiel had given him a few puzzle toys designed to keep humans occupied while he absently talked about his work. The combination of activity and his voice seemed to be enough to calm Dean down a little bit.

Castiel added _take Dean to a pet park_ to his ever increasing list of things to do when he made his next stop. Hopefully there would be other humans there that Dean could play with and get the excessive behaviour out of his system.

A timer went off, interrupting his work. It was time to feed Dean. Castiel looked over at Dean sitting off to the side. He'd finished the puzzle toy and tossed it aside and was now staring dejectedly at Castiel.

Castiel sighed at the pathetic look on his pet's face. He went over and scratched his claws through Dean's hair. Dean chattered weakly at him and leaned into it. Castiel untied the leash then bent down and picked Dean up. Dean curled into his chest and chattered softly.

"If you were just a good pet about brushing your teeth..." Castiel said sadly. Dean hadn't acted up about bath time since he'd been punished but it was obvious to Castiel that bath time was taking its toll on his pet.

Maybe there'd be a pet supply store at his next stop and he could ask about alternative bathing techniques for humans. He was sure he had read something about dental chews.

He added that to his list as he carried Dean to the kitchen.

He filled Dean's bowl as he usually did and was halfway to his chair with his pet in tow when he stopped. Dean was being excessively clingy. Would he only be encouraging Dean to continue the behaviour if he kept training him at meal times?

Reluctantly, he put Dean's bowl down on the floor and tied Dean off to his pet bed. A well behaved pet was more important than satisfying an urge. He went to his chair and caught up on the local news. Dean whined and chattered at him for a short while but eventually he wrapped himself in his blanket and settled in to eat.

It took Dean a few more days to return to _almost_ normal. He could still be clingy sometimes but not to such an excess. Even so, Castiel kept _take Dean to a pet park_ on his list. He had read that humans were more relaxed and better behaved if they got at least _some_ time to play with other humans on occasion. Maybe it would help in the future.

Castiel waited until Dean had gone an entire day without making a nuisance of himself before he thought about resuming training Dean at meal times.

He had Dean in his lap and the bowl in his hand when he hesitated. Why was he still doing this? Dean was a pet. And he was training him to lick his mating tail. Revulsion rippled through him as he realized just how disgusting it really was. He was putting his mating tail in pet food and then letting his pet put its saliva all over him. When he put it that way he wasn't sure what he was more disgusted by. His pet's mouth? Or the pet food?

And he doubted he was even succeeding in training Dean to lick his mating tail. His pet rarely showed much interest in it unless it was time for a meal. A little push against his mating tail proved his point.

Dean pushed at his mating tail again and chattered. He looked pointedly at the bowl in Castiel's hand. He pushed Castiel's mating tail towards the bowl.

Castiel shook Dean's hands off his mating tail. His pet whimpered at him. Castiel sighed and gave Dean the bowl. His pet stared at up at him in confusion. Dean glanced between the bowl and Castiel's mating tail. He gave Castiel a wary look.

"Go on, Dean. Eat." Castiel nudged the bowl with a claw.

Dean glanced at Castiel's mating tail again. Castiel snorted with gentle amusement. He was right. He'd succeeded in training Dean in associating his mating tail with being fed and not much else. He scratched Dean's head and wrapped his mating tail around his pet's chest. Dean smiled at him and started eating.

Castiel spent the rest of the day in his office. Dean spent the day alternating between napping in his lap and wandering around his office while he chattered away at things— a trait Castiel had learned most humans carried. They didn't seem to be able to differentiate between something living and something inanimate.

Castiel welcomed the distraction. There was something oddly endearing about watching his pet try to coax responses out of inanimate objects or worry over them when he bumped into one.

At the end of the day he scooped Dean up and carried him to the kitchen for dinner. He watched in amusement as his pet yawned his way through dinner. And was more than thankful that Dean had tired himself out enough to barely complain about bath time.

After Dean's bath he placed the pet at the foot of the bed. Dean rolled and flopped his way into the centre of the bed as he wiggled under his blanket. Castiel chuckled at his sleepy pet then stripped his work clothes off. He went to his dresser and took out the warming sheath. He had gotten used to the slow gentle orgasms that it drew out of him. It was still a poor substitute for mates but it made for a pleasant sleep aid.

He sat down on the bed and started to roll the warming sheath on. He caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned to find Dean watching him roll the sheath on. He froze with his hands on his mating tail. Dean was watching him getting ready to masturbate. A sharp thrill went through him. Was all the training finally working?

Castiel snorted to himself. Dean watched him do _everything._ And as far as Castiel knew Dean didn't even how to mate like a human, let alone mate like a person. He doubted Dean recognized what the warming sheath was. He was just being a curious human watching his master.

"You're just a curious little pet, aren't you?" He scratched Dean's head. "You'd probably just wondered why you'd been banished to the floor if I ever brought mates to bed."

His pet yawned and sleepily chattered at him. He pulled his blanket tighter around himself and snuggled himself against Castiel's leg. Castiel snorted gently at the innocence of his pet then went back to the warming sheath. His bladed tail twitched when his pet's small hand reached over his leg and touched the warming sheath.

Dean jerked back at the twitch of his bladed tail. He chattered worriedly at Castiel.

Conflict tore at Castiel's mind. He had been training Dean to do this. This was what he had intended all along. But now that he was faced with the results of his training he wasn't sure he could do it. It was perverted and unsanitary. He needed to come to his senses. He should tell Dean _no_ and put him on the floor if he persisted. He _shouldn't_ try to use his pet like that. It wasn't fair to his pet. He had been a terrible pet owner for training Dean for it in the first place.

Castiel was on the verge of telling Dean _no_ when Dean cautiously reached out again. The scales on Castiel's back started lifting in arousal.

Maybe it wasn't _that_ unsanitary. He had just given Dean a bath and brushed his teeth. His pet's mouth would be as clean as it would ever be. And it wasn't as if his pet would think it was degrading, he was only a pet. 

He clicked his claws together as thoughts whirled through his head. It was the prickle through the scales of his back that won in the end.

Very slowly he tugged his mating tail out of the warming sheath. Dean watched with narrowed eyes as he moved his mating tail closer to Dean's mouth.

"Dean, lick." Castiel commanded.

Dean's face rippled with confusion. He looked between Castiel and his mating tail. He chattered, clearly confused by the lack of food being presented.

Castiel gently pressed the tip of his mating tail to Dean's mouth. "Lick."

Dean's eyes flicked back and forth between Castiel and his mating tail. He chattered at Castiel again, this time sounding mildly upset. But his lips brushed against the tip of Castiel's mating tail making Castiel shiver as the scales on his back lifted higher with arousal.

Castiel reached over and pulled Dean into his lap. Maybe Dean hadn't understood the command because he associated it with being in his lap.

He stroked his pet's back first to ease the tension in him. He acted like this was just like any other time when Dean sat in his lap. When Dean was relaxed against him he brought his mating tail back to his pet's mouth just as he would when he fed him.

"Lick."

Dean craned his head back to look up at him.

Castiel gently pushed Dean's head back down with a claw. He said the command again. He could feel his pet squirm with confusion. He pressed his mating tail to Dean's lips and told him to _lick._

Castiel was seconds from giving up ‒ apparently he was not only terrible for trying to train his pet to do this he was plainly terrible at training his pet ‒ when Dean's tongue darted out and licked delicately at his mating tail.

"Good Dean. Good pet." Castiel cooed. He bumped his mating tail against Dean's lips again. "Lick."

Dean gave his mating tail a few more licks before trying to squirm away. Castiel let him. He didn't want Dean to associate the command with anything bad and he wasn't about to let his mating tail unfurl because of a pet. He might be desperate for a bit of physical contact but he wasn't _that_ desperate. A little external stimulation wasn't that disgusting really. It would really only be genuinely unsanitary if he let his mating tail unfurl while his pet had his mouth on it; all those human bacteria getting into his reproductive organs.

Dean rolled out of the bed and went to the door. He looked at Castiel expectantly and fidgeted on the spot. Castiel hit the button to open the bedroom door. Instead of his pet racing for the bathroom to relieve himself Dean stood at the threshold and stared at him.

Castiel stared back, confused by his pet's behaviour. Dean flailed his arms and chattered for a few moments before returning to the bed. He stopped in front of Castiel's knees. Castiel tensed as Dean reached out and touched his mating tail. He kept perfectly still, he didn't want to spook Dean from paying attention to him.

Dean repeated the ritual twice more before Castiel realized Dean wanted to be fed again. Castiel sighed at his semi-successful attempt at training Dean then got up to catch Dean and bring him back to bed.

Dean looked put-out from being placed on the bed again instead of fed. Castiel chuckled at his pet and tossed the blanket over him. His pet gave an indignant squawk. Castiel chuckled again then got up to grab a few sanitizing wipes from his dresser. He cleaned his mating tail off then rolled the warming sheath on.

Dean poked his head out from under the blanket and watched him curiously through it all.

Once Castiel had the warming sheath on he laid back in bed. He motioned for Dean to lay down beside him. Dean hesitated for a moment before slowly cuddling against his leg. Castiel reached down and scratched Dean's head.

"Good Dean." Castiel said absently as he drifted at the edge of sleep. "Good pet."

In the morning Castiel fed Dean with his mating tail again. This time he didn't let himself linger on his doubts. It was just a bit of external stimulation. He probably got more stimulation to his mating tail from his day to day work routine than he did from his pet. It wasn't as if he was going to have _sex_ with his pet. He let Dean lick his mating tail and enjoyed the warm buzz of arousal but that was it. He always stopped before his mating tail unfurled. It _wasn't_ sex. And it didn't harm Dean to do it. If anything he'd say Dean seemed to _enjoy_ being fed with his mating tail.

It was harmless really. Dean was fed and happy each time ‒ he was still confused about Castiel's mating tail outside of meal time ‒ and he got to enjoy some pleasant time with his pet.

It was harmless but stupid.

He was still twelve days out from his next stop and he was spending it torturing himself with pent up sexual frustration. His pet's delicate licks and a barely satisfying warming sheath were poor substitutes for partners.

Four days out from his next stop Castiel knew he had a problem. He was holding the used warming sheath, filled with mating fluids and semen from a night's worth of use, and staring at a still sleeping Dean. One thought was rolling around in his head: if he offered his mating tail to Dean would he lick his mating tail clean.

He watched Dean stretch out on the bed. His pet chattered warmly at him, still half asleep, then flopped over and curled back up in his blanket. It was adorable; his innocent speckled pet all sleepy and warm. And he wanted to trick that innocent little pet into licking up come and slick.

Guilt settled into his stomach. It was one thing to get his pet to lick at his mating tail and get a little bit of an aroused buzz. But getting his pet to lick up his come and slick was just... _wrong._

Castiel marched himself to the bathroom to clean the warming sheath and wash up. He skipped filing the paperwork to dock at the next station in favour of searching personal ads. He needed to find _at least_ one partner when he stopped.

He almost sent his therapist a strongly worded letter for suggesting he get a pet in the first place and being the source of the entire ordeal but stopped when he realized he'd have to admit to having thoroughly thought out how to go about using his pet to masturbate.

He might have some social issues from doing long deep space runs alone but he wasn't that far gone that he didn't recognize what people would think if he admitted to what he had been doing. As understanding as his therapist was he doubted he'd be sympathetic to zoophilia.

He spent the next three days rushing through the paperwork, securing the cargo for a different gravity rating, and scouring the station's personal ads.

There was only one ad from a fellow Helodem on the station. Another spur. A mated rasa-olio pair would be _nice_ to spend a day or two with but at this point Castiel would be happy with anyone that wasn't his pet. Another spur wouldn't be much better than masturbating on his own but Castiel couldn't afford to be picky.

He got a single curt message back from the other spur. It was enough that Castiel knew he wouldn't be amicable to sex.

He cast a wider net, opening up the personal ads from any species he thought _might_ be compatible.

Between securing cargo he managed to send a few messages back and forth to a number of potential partners.

Two of them were nowhere near sexually compatible with him and one, after he read up on the species and their sex acts, would probably result in his death even if he was careful.

He read over one profile of a Narsiaan trio a few times, debating on whether he was desperate enough to have sex that he'd agree to being hit with half a dozen love darts from each of them. He quickly decided that while he was desperate he wasn't so desperate that he'd risk a hospital visit for sex. Negotiating sex outside of species was always an interesting task to say the least.

He found a personal ad from a Hflip. They weren't particularly attractive by his own people's standards ‒ far too much fur to overlook and too many oddly shaped eyes ‒ but from what he read he was sure they could give each other what they wanted.

He contacted the Hflip a day before he docked at the station. They messaged each other back and forth, messages coming faster the closer he got. The Hflip's given name was unpronounceable for him. They told him to call them Uth instead and explained Hflip sex in greater detail.

Castiel squinted at the description. He had read up quickly on the more mainstream sex acts Hflips practiced. Most of it was simple enough; pressing genital patches against each other and secreting different mating fluids to prompt self-fertilization or impregnation. What Uth was asking for didn't seem too outlandish based on that, though Castiel didn't know why they were so focused on his arms. Hflips didn't have anything remotely similar to an arm so Castiel doubted Uth actually found his arms attractive.

It was probably a weird fetish. He wrinkled his nose. Was he agreeing to something depraved by Hflip standards?

He glanced over at Dean.

Was he really in a position to judge?

He told Uth he'd do it and sent them back a description of what he wanted; a place to pull eggs from and a place to deposit them, he wasn't picky if that was the same orifice. He'd provide the fake eggs and help insert them before and remove them after if Uth wanted him to.

An hour before he docked at the station he got a message from Uth asking that if he hadn't already bought the fake eggs could he make sure they were edible for Hflips?

Castiel stared at the message. The idea of _eating_ eggs was unsettling. He knew the vast majority of species that ate animal based diets were usually ovivorous to some degree but still they were _eggs._

...although he _had_ planned on throwing out the used sex toys when they were done with them so what did it matter if Uth ate them instead? He shrugged it off and messaged Uth back. He'd buy edible-for-Hflips eggs.

Cross-species sex always came with a surprise or two.


	6. Chapter 6

Dean jumped when a shudder ran through the ship. He pressed himself against his master's leg and trembled. He _hated_ ships.

A second later he felt himself get lighter. The ship was syncing up with the gravity on another ship or a station.

His master stooped down to put a collar and leash on him. An electric feeling of excitement raced through Dean. His master was going to take him _off the ship._ He'd spent _months_ on the flying death trap and they were finally going to get off.

"Please let it be a station." Dean begged. A station wasn't as good as a planet with real ground and a real sky and real atmosphere but it was a hell of a lot better than a ship.

His master clicked his claws at him and tugged on the leash.

" _Dean, follow."_

Dean didn't hesitate at the command. He jogged along beside his master grateful to be off the damn ship.

They moved through the bustle of the station until his master brought him into a store. It was a weird store. There was only one large room with a few pieces of furniture that Dean thought were probably chairs for things with a lot more or a lot fewer limbs than he had. In the corner there was one big desk with a giant purple puffball behind it.

Dean jumped in surprise when the puffball started making a whistling noise. His master hissed and clicked at it. Dean relaxed as he realized the purple puffball was the shopkeeper or the cashier or something like that.

He watched his master talk to the purple puffball. His master rubbed his knuckles on the back of Dean's neck then passed his leash off to the big purple puffball behind the desk.

Dean's heart started beating a mile a minute. Was his master selling him?

"Oh god. I hope so." Dean muttered. He wouldn't have to get back onto that horrible ship. Maybe someone who lived on a planet would buy him next.

His master ‒ maybe ex-master ‒ pet his head once more then left.

The purple puffball whistled at him and tugged at his leash. Dean stepped forward. The puffball whistled again and started leading him down a hall behind the desk. Dean followed it, wondering if it had hands hidden somewhere under all that fuzzy purple stuff.

The puffball stopped halfway down the hall. Dean flinched as a door opened in the wall. The puffball unclipped his leash and nudged him through the door.

Dean gasped at the room beyond the door. It was made up to look like a park. _Like a park from **Earth**. _

He heard the door closing and disappearing behind him but couldn't tear his eyes away from the park.

Maybe the grass was closer to blue than green and rounder than it should be. And the trees looked more like giant broccoli. And those were definitely not ducks in the pond or squirrels in the trees. But it was the closest thing to Earth Dean had seen in ages.

A human voice called out to him.

Dean didn't recognize what language was being called out to him but it didn't matter. It was a _human_ voice. Not another weird alien. Human.

A tiny group of humans crept out from among the broccoli looking trees. Dean thought he might cry. It felt like _years_ since he'd last seen another human.

It didn't take long for the bolder humans in the bunch to drag him into a hug then start tugging him along to a tiny clearing in the broccoli trees and showing him how to get lunch from the food dispenser.

No one spoke English. The most common language in the group was badly human-accented Ipix, which meant they could really only point and say a handful of half-words that were mostly nonsense. But touch didn't need words.

It took Dean most of the day to figure out where he was. He hadn't been sold to a new master. His master had put him up in a kennel while they were docked at the station.

His master had left him in a _park_ instead of keeping him shut up on the ship. It made his chest fill with affection every time he thought about it. He hadn't thought his master would ever do something like that for him. His master had only started remembering to feed him on time in the last few weeks. Now his master was letting him run around in a park with other humans.

Maybe the giant lizard wasn't so bad after all.

He had three glorious days of luxury before his master came back looking angry and... _blue_.

Dean kept his distance from his master as he hissed at the purple puffball. The puffball whistled and made a shrieking noise that made Dean cover his ears. His master clicked his claws then scooped Dean up and marched out of the kennel.

Dean squirmed in his master's arms. The blue stuff staining his master's arms was sticky and smelt like tomatoes. At least, Dean thought it was tomatoes. He hadn't smelt tomatoes since before he'd been grabbed off Earth.

When they got to the ship his master dropped him down onto his feet. His master froze. His eyes flicked over Dean, lingering on the spots where the blue sticky stuff had rubbed off onto him. His master let out a furious growl and snapped the big dagger tail up.

Dean recoiled, sure he was about to lose a limb. His eyes flicked between the ship and the hall to the station. He wasn't sure if it would be better to make a run for the ship or if he should try to run away and hide on the station. He didn't know why his master was suddenly furious with him. And not knowing why a master was angry was always bad news for a pet.

"Please, dude. I don't know what I did wrong." Dean put his hands up and backed away from his master. "But I swear. I'll never do it again."

His master huffed. The dagger tail slowly drooped down. He made a soft noise Dean had never heard from him before. He crouched down to Dean's level and carefully drew a claw along the blue sticky stuff that had smeared across Dean's sides and stomach. His master made the soft noise again then hissed and stood up.

There was more hissing and Dean heard his name a few times. Then his master picked him up again and carried him into the ship. His master stopped in the cargo bay and tore into one of the boxes. He pulled out a bright green disk from the box and offered it to Dean.

Dean gave the disk between his master's claws a sniff. It smelt like it was probably food. He gave it a quick lick before taking it from his master. He groaned. It _almost_ tasted like chocolate. He grabbed it and dug in. He wasn't going to turn down a treat.

He munched away on it while his master pet him and a made those soft noises.

Then it was straight to the bathroom.

It was the first time Dean was actually glad his master insisted on bathing him. The blue sticky stuff wouldn't come off. His master resorted to using something Dean had seen him use to clean ship parts and even then the blue staining stayed.

If it hadn't made his master so angry Dean would have thought it was funny. It reminded him of a tv show he had watched as a kid; something about a blue, maybe purple, giant lizard that wanted to teach kids about sharing.

The only good thing to come from the blue sticky stuff was that his master completely forgot to brush his teeth.

He was carried into his master's bedroom afterwards and deposited onto the bed. He stretched out while he could and wrapped himself up in his blanket. He sighed into the blanket, it smelled like home. Dean's eyes flicked open. He frowned at the ceiling. He didn't want his current master's bedroom to smell like home. He wanted home to be on a planet with a master who had other humans and didn't forget to feed him.

The bed bounced with the weight of something being dropped beside him. Dean squirmed around to look. His master had dropped a box of balls beside him. Dean looked up, surprised. His master had never given him any kind of throwing toy before— Dean figured it was probably because projectiles and ships didn't go so well together.

He sat up and looked into the box. There was a mix of blueish-green balls about the size of a softball. He glanced up at his master. His master was busy putting away his work clothes. Dean looked back to the box. He flicked his eyes to the bed.

He had thought they were just going to cuddle then go to sleep but his master never gave him toys and left him to entertain himself unless he really was busy.

Dean picked a ball from the box and absently rolled it from hand to hand while he watched his master. It was weird. His master definitely wasn't busy. He was getting ready for bed. Dean frowned down at the ball. Had he misbehaved so badly that his master thought he couldn't be left alone and unoccupied for more than a couple of seconds?

His master turned around and froze when he saw Dean playing with the ball. Dean tensed up. He was doing something wrong. He just knew it. He reached out and carefully put the ball back. Maybe they weren't for him after all.

"Sorry." Dean curled into his blanket. "Please don't lock me out again."

His master clicked his claws and rumbled to himself while staring at Dean. Dean tried to make himself invisible while his master decided on a punishment for whatever it was he had done.

But there were no angry growly noises from his master. Instead his master looked down at his blue-stained arms, clacked his claws together, then reached into the box with his other tail and picked up a ball. He offered it to Dean.

Dean looked between his master and the ball. He had, had masters in the past that would try to trick him into misbehaving to prove a point but this master was usually straight forward, if a little weird. He didn't think he'd purposely set him up to be punished.

Dean hesitantly reached out and took the ball. He winced, expecting punishment anyway, but his master made a low approving hiss and gave him a pat on the head.

" _Good Dean."_

"Ummm..." Dean looked down at the ball more confused now than he had been before. "Okay?"

His master slowly eased closer, like he expected Dean to run away and hide. Dean squinted at him as he tried to figure out what exactly his master was doing. His master had spent weeks tying him up and ignoring him when he gave him something to play with but now he was incredibly interested? This was weirder than that time that his master had just stood statue still in the corridor for hours.

His master stared at him expectantly. Dean rolled the ball between his hands. His master pet his head again and cooed his name at him.

Dean threw the ball up a little bit and caught it. His master seemed pleased. He did it a few more times. His master was more entertained than he was. It was just a ball. It didn't take any skill to roll it around. But if his master liked watching him toss it around, well, he wasn't going to deprive the guy who fed him.

Or give him another reason to lock him out of the bedroom all alone.

He rolled the ball up his arm and popped it off his elbow then caught it. He grabbed two more from the box and tried out juggling. He couldn't do it but his master seemed particularly pleased. The only thing his master liked more was when he tried balancing a ball on his nose.

He was a very entertaining pet if he said so himself.

He kept at it until he was nodding off between each roll of the ball. He must have fallen asleep eventually because the next thing he knew his master was scooping him up and snuggling him in bed.

His master kept him close the next few days and spoiled him rotten. Every time he so much as _looked_ at his master he was getting fed or an extra treat between meals. It was a complete turnaround from how his master had been these past weeks.

He was expecting another unplanned treat for doing absolutely nothing when his master called him over to the bed. But instead of another green cookie his master had a collar waiting for him.

An exuberant thrill went through Dean. Was he going to get to go back to the park again?

"What's gotten into you?" Dean asked, leaning into his master as he fastened the collar around his neck. "Not that I'm complaining."

His master responded by looking him over and making a weird lizard face at him while hissing. His master clacked his claws twice then went to a cupboard across from the bed. He took out a pile of stuff that Dean didn't immediately recognize.

It wasn't until he was spitting a shirt out of his mouth as his master tried to pull it over his head that he realized he was finally getting some clothes. He managed to wrestle himself away long enough to put his arms through the sleeves on his own. His master seemed content to let him put the pants on by himself after that.

He looked down at himself. The shirt was solid pale orange with long sleeves and the pants were yellow with a purple pattern on them that Dean had seen often enough to know it was the store logo for the pet store he had been in. They were boring in comparison to what his last master had bought for him but he wasn't going to complain. It was the first time he had been dressed all year.

His master hissed again and rubbed his knuckle on Dean's cheek right where there was still a blue smudge that hadn't come off. His master made a grumbly noise. Dean looked down at himself again. The pants and shirt hid the rest of the blue stains.

His master growled and clicked his claws then went to his dresser. He pulled out coveralls that he used when he was working on the ship and stepped into them. The coveralls conveniently hid the blue stains on his master too.

Dean looked at his clothes covered forearms. What was wrong about the blue stuff that his master didn't want anyone to see?

He didn't have long to contemplate an answer. His master clipped his leash on and told him to follow. Dean didn't waste time obeying if it meant another trip to the park. He hadn't really had enough time to make friends last time but there were a few people there that he hoped he'd see again.

Maybe he could teach them English. Or they could teach him whatever it was they spoke. They could swap stories for real this time, instead of a bunch of choppy three word sentences that was mostly hand gestures.

His master walked right past the turn for the pet park. Dean's shoulders slumped. He slowed down, lingering as long as he could before his master yanked on his leash.

He shouldn't have gotten himself so worked up about it. His master might be spoiling him with treats but that didn't mean he was going to get everything he wanted.

He stopped paying attention to where they were going ‒ it wasn't the pet park so what did it matter? ‒ so was surprised when he realized that the bustle of the main halls of the station had given away to the quiet residential areas.

His master stopped and stared at a blue circle on the wall. His dagger tail flicked— not in an angry way but Dean still stepped away to avoid it. His master tapped the circle.

Dean yelped and jumped a foot into the air as a door popped open. His master snorted at him and pet his head. Dean scowled up at him. "Yeah. Really funny. Just wait until you literally scare the shit out of me and have to clean _that_ up at bath time."

He got another pat on the head for his displeasure.

His master walked through the door like he belonged there. Dean cringed as he followed beside him and stepped across the threshold. He had managed to swallow his fears about the ship doors chopping him in half but this was just some random alien's house. What if this guy didn't keep everything in as good condition as his master?

He made it inside without getting chopped in half but his heart rocketed into his throat anyway as soon as he saw who his master was meeting with.

He darted behind his master and put the dagger tail between him and the _goddamn **dragon**_ that was hissing and growling in the foyer.

He remembered reading a book or two that featured dragons when he had still been just a kid on earth. He had thought dragons sounded cool back then and that it would be _the **coolest** thing ever _to have a pet dragon.

He was wrong.

He was very, very wrong. Real dragons were terrifying. It had a mouth full of teeth like a shark and bigger claws than his master's.

He plastered himself against the wall and contemplated just how very wrong he had been as a kid and whether his master had been feeding him all those extra treats to fatten him up so he could feed him to a dragon.

His master turned around and picked him up. He settled Dean on his hip. Dean wrapped his arms around his master and shook. His master trailed a claw through Dean's hair and started hissing and growling right along with the dragon.

Dean buried his face in his master's hard chest and waited for those huge dragon-teeth to bite into him.

He whimpered when his master started moving forward.

There was no hot pain of teeth tearing into him.

His master carried him further into the house and then cooed at him as he gently peeled him off his chest. His master set him down on the floor and gave him a nudge towards the dragon.

Dean stumbled back and pressed himself up against his master's legs.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Dean chanted. "You're the greatest master I've ever had. Really. Please don't let it eat me."

The dragon's head snaked down to stare at him. Its tongue flicked out. His master hissed again. The dragon's head angled up. It hissed back. The dragon recoiled its head and made a noise like rolling thunder.

Nothing happened. The dragon didn't eat him.

Then a tiny human head popped up from between the dragon's legs.

Dean's eyes went wide. The kid clambered over the dragon's spikey legs babbling that same bad Ipix the humans at the park had used. "Safe, safe, safe. Qech. Enjoyment. Safe family."

The kid tumbled to the floor in front of Dean. She smiled up at him then tugged at his pant leg. "Yellow enjoyment." She laughed hysterically and tugged at his pant leg again. "Door."

Dean glanced up at his master. Was he being traded for a younger pet? Was this a play date?

His master nudged him forward and clacked his claws at him.

Dean leaned back against his master. "Dude, I don't know what you want but that is a _dragon."_

The kid sucked in an amazed gasp. She spun around and started waving and fluttering her hands at the dragon. The dragon watched her and hissed sharply when she went still. The kid practically _squealed_ and took off back the way she came.

"What the hell..." Dean stared at the dragon. Maybe it wasn't going to eat him after all if it let a kid just climb all over its legs.

His master started making grumbly noises at the dragon. They hissed and grumbled at each other. Dean got the drift that his master wasn't too impressed by whatever the dragon had to say.

The dragon shuffled aside a few moments later to let _another_ human into the foyer.

The new human smiled broadly at him. "Welcome. Thank you. How is blue?"

Dean's mouth dropped open. He hadn't heard another human speak English in _years_ unless he had taught it to them. "Holy shit! You can speak English!"

"Granddaughter..." The other human paused. His eyebrows furrowed. "Grand _mother_..." He squinted at the air between them. "....taught me."

Dean just stared. English. Real actual English coming out of a human and not some stupid toy that mimicked him back.

"Qech is a house." He pointed to the dragon and pat its leg.

Dean's eyes flicked between the other human and the dragon. Maybe the other human spoke English but it was _terrible._ He tried to piece together what _Qech is a house_ was supposed to mean.

The other human watched him and slowly started to frown "How is blue?"

The words didn't make sense but the rhythm was all Dean needed to hear to understand what he meant.

"Well, I don't think I'm going to get eaten anymore, so, pretty good." Dean said. "And it's _how **are you**_."

The other human blinked at him. He mouthed what Dean had said. He scrunched his nose. "Is blue. Are you. Is blue. Are you." He shrugged at Dean. "Grandmother..." He stopped and did a series of hand motions. He said a few things in Ipix and looked at Dean expectantly.

Dean caught the drift that he definitely wasn't going to be eaten and that Qech was the dragon.

The other human put his hand out and wiggled his fingers.

Dean glanced up at his master. He wasn't sure if this was a play date or if his master was getting rid of him. His master reached down and unclipped his leash but left his collar on.

Dean touched the collar. "Okay. So you're not getting rid of me." He gave his master's leg a quick hug then grabbed the other human's hand and let himself be led into the home of a dragon. He craned his head over his shoulder and called back to his master, "See you later, alligator!"


	7. Chapter 7

Castiel could feel his fellow pet owner's eyes lingering on the patches of blue that peaked out from his coveralls but Qech had so far had the courtesy to not ask. 

He didn't try to tug the sleeves down further. It would only draw more attention to his sexual blunder— he had rushed the Hflip through explaining the finer details of their version of sex and missed the part where the mating fluids stained their partner's skin for upwards of a year. And to make matters worse, the sex had only been average at best.

"It's meal time for my pets." Qech said, breaking the silence. "Do you mind if your pet eats too?"

Castiel hesitated. He knew Dean would act up if he watched other pets being fed but he couldn't risk Dean trying to grab at his mating tail in front of someone.

"I fed Dean before we left." Castiel said. He reached into a pocket on his coveralls to pull out a small package of dental treats. "But I have some treats for him to snack on."

He thought that was probably safe. He didn't feed Dean his dental treats with his mating tale since it was something that had to be chewed— he didn't want to encourage biting anywhere near his mating tale.

He followed Qech into his kitchen and kept his opinions on Qech's bizarre choice in decorations to himself— there was Oueyi baby talk covering his doors and walls. The humans chattered among themselves. Dean was surprisingly exuberant in his chattering. Not that his pet was lethargic on his ship but he had never seen Dean _this_ excited before.

Dean didn't even seem to mind that Qech's human was pulling him along by his hand. From Castiel's experiences at bath time he knew Dean hated having his hands immobilized.

Qech saw him watching their pets. "You only have one?"

"Yes." Castiel said. Dean glanced over at him but quickly decided that he wasn't being called over and went back to his chattering with the other pets. "More than that would be impractical on a ship."

He wasn't about to advertise he had gotten a pet on his therapist's advice.

Qech let out a sad sigh. "Ah. That's unfortunate. They do so much better in groups." He pointed his head towards Dean and his pet. "And you get to watch more of their natural behaviours."

"I'm surprised actually." Castiel said. "Dean doesn't usually take so well to having his hands restrained."

Qech chuffed in amusement. "It's a sign of affection. Bonding behaviour. They like each other." He paused to take out bowls and food for his humans. "It's a lesser form of how he wrapped his arm around your leg."

Castiel clacked his claws together in agreement. He had assumed the way Dean frequently wrapped around him was bonding behaviour but he was glad all the same to have someone confirm it.

He called Dean over before he could think Qech was setting a bowl out for him too. Dean cast a longing look towards the other humans but was immediately distracted by the dental treat. His pet started stuffing it into his face as fast as he could.

"Dental treats? Those can get expensive." Qech said. He rattled the spines of his tail to call his pets over.

"We've had some problems with teeth cleaning." Castiel said. He gave Dean a second dental treat. "The cost is worth it. And besides, they're more thorough than I could ever be."

Qech rolled his head to the side. "Hmpf. Well. With just one pet the cost probably isn't so bad."

His humans lined up in front of him. He started speaking in Ipix. " _What do we say?"_

The humans chorused out a sound that was eerily similar to _please_ in Ipix. Qech chuffed happily and gave out the bowls. The humans politely took them chorused something that sounded a little like _thank you,_ and retreated to a corner of the kitchen Qech had set up for them.

Castiel watched them for a moment. There was no more Ipix-sounding chattering. He glanced at Qech. He didn't seem to find the performance particularly astounding. Castiel quietly snorted at himself. Had he really just wondered if a gang of _pets_ could speak?

Castiel gave Dean two more dental treats and let him join the other humans.

While the humans ate, Qech offered advice on how to make bath time easier for Dean. There were a few things that Castiel thought would work ‒ not waiting until his pet was practically falling asleep and to let Dean investigate the brushes and wipes outside of the bathroom ‒ but there were other things that were utterly absurd. He wasn't about to let his pet clean himself or decide when bath time should be. If he let Dean pick bath time his little speckled pet would be speckled with dirt instead of spots.

When Qech's pets were done eating they carefully stacked their bowls beside the counter then took Dean's hands and pulled him over to play.

"Your pets are very well behaved." Castiel complimented. "Dean's not a problem pet but he has his moments. He can be impossible sometimes."

"Oh, don't feel bad. It took me forever to get here." Qech said as he led the way to his lounge. "It got so much easier once I had learned some human and they had learned some Ipix."

Castiel snorted at the image Qech was making: a spiny Thwerq chattering like a soft little human while his pets tried to mimic Ipix. He had obviously seen Castiel watching his pets earlier and was making a joke.

"I know, I know. It sounds ridiculous but they really can manage some limited speech. It's not enough for a conversation but they can communicate their base needs." Qech said. He opened the door to his lounge and motioned for Castiel to go through the door first, Qech followed in behind him. "They're much smarter than what we give them credit for."

Castiel huffed in amusement. Qech didn't.

Qech was serious.

Castiel backtracked. He didn't want to offend his host. He already couldn't go back to the pet kennel after the fiasco with the receptionist. He needed to let his pet socialize as long as possible if he didn't want him underfoot every waking hour to the next stop.

"Ah...yes...I...I _have_ managed to teach Dean to recognize the names of tools." Castiel would admit that much but not something as outlandish as what Qech was claiming. "But that's a far cry from _speaking."_

"They just can't make the sounds or thoughts to speak." Qech said. He curled his hulking form onto a large pillow in the corner and motioned for Castiel to choose a chair that fit his own shape. "That's why they use their hands mostly. They're visual speakers."

Castiel did his best to keep his demeanour blandly pleasant. From the messages they had exchanged in the last day he knew well enough that Qech was a _passionate_ pet owner. Disparaging his crackpot ideas about humans wouldn't win him any hospitality.

But did his host really believe that? Humans as visual speakers? The most he had seen Dean change colour was when his lips had paled after sneaking into one of the refrigerated cargo bays. Every piece of literature he had found explaining the colour change had said that it was an entirely involuntary response to cold and not an intentional threat display.

Qech's sides inflated as he let out an amused chuff. "I know what you're thinking; this Thwerq has decided to stab himself with his own spines. But they really do understand more than basic commands." He pointed one long claw at the gently swaying horizontal yellow lines on the door to the hall. "They understand Oueyi at the level of a yearling. Not to mention the handful of Ipix words they can manage if you have the patience to teach them."  

Castiel studied the baby talk on the door. He had thought that Qech simply had a very unusual taste in decoration but apparently it was for his _pets._

He would have thought Qech's claim was outlandish but he _had_ heard Qech's pets make noises that sounded a great deal like garbled and broken Ipix. He hadn't known what to think then and he didn't know what to think now. Humans were animals. Some animals were gifted mimics but that didn't mean they understood language. But the way the Qech's humans had greeted Dean and had later acted in the kitchen...

One of Qech's humans wandered in as he thought it over. He watched the human scurry over to Qech and make itself at home, pressed up against a pair of Qech's legs.

Qech bent his head around to nuzzle his face into his human's chest. He chuffed in delight when his human wrapped its arms around his head. He stuck his tongue out and flicked it across the human's bare stomach. The human squirmed and made pleased sounds.

It was a thoroughly embarrassing display of intimacy between owner and pet. At least Castiel confined his perverse behaviour with Dean to the solitary confines of his ship and didn't do it in front of people.

A prickle of fear crept into him. He had posted an ad asking if any human owners on the station would be interested in a play date after his debacle with Uth. Had he accidentally posted it to the personal ads section instead of the pet section?

He wasn't so naïve to think that he was the only person who had ever thought of taking advantage of his pet. He had heard about those shady closed community boards where people discussed it. Had he stumbled into a secretive human-sex group? He shot a look towards the door and debated on making a hasty getaway.

Qech chuffed again and shook the human off his head. The human started babbling out terrible Ipix and flailing its hands. Qech bumped it back towards his legs. The human squeaked with excitement. It rubbed up against Qech's genital slit.

Castiel felt the scales on his chest and face darken and rise with embarrassment as he watched.

Qech looked up to find Castiel staring. He rumbled out several deeps chuffs at him. "I thought Helodem weren't squeamish about sex?" He cast a significant look down at the blue stains on Castiel's arms and then towards the kitchen where Dean had last been. "Any sex it would seem."

For a moment he debated on being outraged that Qech would presume that the liberal sexual practices of Helodem included zoophilic threesomes but instead decided the best course of action was to bolt from his chair.

He raced back to the kitchen. It was the last place he had seen Dean and the best place to start looking for him. He'd get Dean, carry him back to the ship as fast as possible, finish resupplying, and then never come back to this damned station again.

In fact, from now on he'd do all his resupply remotely. His therapist would hate him for but if it meant never—

Castiel froze in the doorway to the kitchen. He had found Dean. And he was busy slobbering his mouth all over one of the other human's genitals.


End file.
